THE UDF INKINGI PARTY DENOUNCES AN UPSURGE IN ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND THREATS AGAINST ITS ALLEGED SUPPORTERS IN NGOMA DISTRICT, EASTERN REGION OF RWANDA.

We have learnt from reliable sources that the security services of the district of Ngoma, Eastern province of Rwanda have embarked on a renewed witch hunt against suspected members of our party in the areas of Remera, Gashanda and Kazo. The suspicions are based on the simple fact that they visited the party president, Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, detained in Mageragere prison near the capital Kigali.

According to sources within the local administration, the exercise of summoning and warning those who visit Mrs Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza is going to continue. The people who were summoned and harassed are reluctant to give details of their ordeal at the hands of the security services, for fear of their personal safety and safety of their families, relatives and friends. They fear to pick telephone calls from abroad for fear that their phones are tapped.

We would like to recall that the late Jean Damascene Habarugira, a member of the party who was assassinated by security services in May 2017 and his mutilated body dumped in the Nyamata mortuary, comes from the same area.

This new wave of arrests is based on an electoral campaign for the legislative elections scheduled for this year 2018, whose results are already known. The system wants to stop anyone who would be tempted to vote for a candidate not listed by the ruling party RPF.

The UDF Inkingi recalls that no law prohibits Rwandan citizens from visiting a person whose final conviction has taken place. If that were the case, the authorities would not allow such visits to all prisoners.

The UDF Inkingi hope that the authorities will realise that by pushing people into their last entrenchments, they are jeopardizing any prospect of any democratic governance with the consequences that go with it. No intimidation can deter or stop our democratic struggle for a change of governance in Rwanda.

The UDF Inkingi once again calls on aid donors of Rwanda to use their financial leverage by tying their aid to the respect of the human fundamental civil and political Rights of Rwandans. We believe that this is the only available peaceful weapon that will help avoid any escalation of violence in Rwanda.